John Wold was born on August 26, 1891 as Jon Kommandantvold in Røros, Norway. His parents were Nils Jonsen Kommandantvold and Gjertrud Marie Simensdatter Bukvold, and they had a total of five children. John’s father Nils worked in the nearby copper mines. 

In 1904, the Kommandantvold’s oldest son Reinholt emigrated to America. Following the death of his mother, Jon emigrated to America in 1911. He changed his name:  Jon became John, and Kommandantvold was simplified to Wold. John settled in Glenwood, Minnesota, which had a rather large Norwegian expatriate community. John was a skilled painter with a reputation as a serious, dedicated and reliable person. However, he was also rather outgoing and he played an active part in the social life of Glenwood.  He corresponded actively with his family in Norway.

In June of 1917, John was drafted into the US Army. On 5 October 1918 he arrived in France and was assigned to the 148th Infantry Regiment of the 37th Division. On the evening of the 1th of November John’s regiment was positioned in the area around Nederename in Belgium.  He and some other men had just finished constructing new trenches when John was hit in the face with a shell fragment.  He died immediately. 

John was initially buried in Nederename, and after the war his body was moved to what would become the Flanders Field American Cemetery. Since all of his identifying documents were lost, John was initially buried as “Unknown 2808.” However, during the construction of the permanent Flanders Field American Cemetery in June of 1922, his remains were identified when they found a letter that was addressed to him in his pocket. 

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Information provided by Philippe Vanderdonckt